ASKELADDEN: The Tale Of The Golden Quill

5. The Yggdrasil Fragment

“Sire, the city has been cleared. Your orders to proceed to the Holy Church", the second-in-command of the Black Disciples said to the Leader.

"Inform all troops. Surround the Church perimeter, block all entrances, and take out every single individual who manages to make it out. You and I will proceed into the Church with three members of the Elite Squad”, the Leader commander.

"Roger that, Boss”, the 2IC saluted and moved out to relay the given orders.

Minutes later, they stormed the church with an Elite Squad member blasting the heavy Church doors open with an explosion spell. The Leader and 2IC hovered right in just behind them.

"Take down anyone in sight, but hold one hostage to lead the way”, the 2IC ordered the Elite Squad members.

Cries of agony rang out through the Church as the Holy Knights were helplessly shot down on sight. Sounds of fired spells and explosions shook the walls and pillars of the building. It was only a matter of time till the whole building collapsed to the ground.

“Who amongst you is the highest in rank?" one of the Elite Squad members asked the last line of Holy Knights in their way.

A terrified bald middle-aged man in a white garb stepped forward, beads of sweat dripping from his gleaming forehead and visible terror in his eyes.

"What is your name, geezer?” the Leader asked him.

"P–p–pope Urien, Sir”, the quivering priest stuttered in fear.

"Alright, Pope Urien. You're going to do me a big favour now. Is that okay?” the Leader said, with a chilling tone.

"Ye–yes, S–sir."

“Good. You can dispose of the rest", the Leader ordered, pointing at the remaining Holy Knights huddled behind the Pope.

In mere seconds, the Elite Squad members cut down every one of them, leaving a pile of mangled corpses and blood-soaked white garbs on the marble floor.

“Now back to you, Pope. Tell me where the Yggdrasil Fruit Fragment is being held."

“Uhmmm…” the Pope stammered, attempting to delay the raiders and let the High Priest escape with the Fragment, as he had already sent a telepathic warning to the High Priest.

In a split second, a long pointed shard of dark matter pierced the Pope’s right thigh.

"Gahhhh!” the Pope yelled, wincing in extreme pain.

“For your information, Pope Urien, my time happens to be very precious. So every second of mine you waste would be paid for by your blood and tears”, the Leader said, readying another shard to strike.

"I asked a question, so tick-tock. Next one is taking out your left arm.”

"I'm s-sorry. I'll show you the way. Please spare me, Sir", the Pope cried, begging for his life.

“Well then, chop chop. Let's go!"

The Pope limped forward, casting a spell to light the way as he held onto the wall for support with his disfigured leg dragging across the floor, leaving a trail of blood.

He led them to a stairwell that gave way to a door to the basement.

The Leader gestured to one of the Elite Squad members, wordlessly ordering him to check the door and unlock it if possible.

“It’s sealed, Sire. By some sort of holy magic spell that we can't break with sheer force”, the raider told his Boss.

"Gahhhh!” the Pope screamed again, as he felt hot excruciating pain run through his shoulder and watched his left arm drop to the ground.

“You're testing my patience, Pope. You don't expect me to appeal to you to undo the locks, do you?" the Leader growled, sporting a furious expression on his face.

“M–m–my ap–pologies, S–sir. I'll undo the lock r-right now", the Pope said, lacking coordination with his eyelids closing while he fought to stay conscious after losing a heavy amount of blood.

"Xekleidóste tóra” he changed as he drew a magic circle on the door with his shaky right arm.

There was a brief silence, followed by two loud successive clicks before the heavy stone door slowly slid open, causing a slight tremor.

The Elite Squad members rushed in and a couple of cries were heard with sounds of a spell exchange, followed by an eerie silence.

The Leader hovered right in after a brief moment, leaving the bloodied Pope slumped on the stairway, breathing heavily.

“Rest now, Pope", the 2IC said as he shot a penetrating spell of blue flames from his fingertips through the centre of the Pope’s forehead, considering it an act of mercy.

He then followed right behind his Boss.

"Well well, what do we have here”, the Leader snickered, walking towards the shaken High Priest, who was taking refuge behind a huge pillar in the corner of the wide dark basement.

“Begone, you vagabonds. The Sacred Holy Church is not a place for the likeness of you, O ye lost souls", the frightened High Priest yelled with a shaky voice.

“Oh yeah? Who do you think you are telling me where I can or cannot be? So far, there hasn't been anyone powerful enough to stop my henchmen, let alone barking orders at me", the Leader spoke in a low evil tone, with a devilish grin slapped across his face.

"In that case, behold the divine power of the Holy Church”, the High Priest said with weak courage, readying himself for an inevitable fight.

"O gods of Olympus, rulers of light, astral bodies, and the firmaments. Bestow upon me, the blessings of thy divine powers to destroy the enemies of thy laws and creation. Aktína theïkis kátharsi-

"Graviole Ena”, the Leader cast his gravity-manipulating spell, crushing the High Priest under its weight before he could finish casting his Divine Purge spell.

“How weak. Is that how long it takes to cast a holy spell? Or was that your trump card you planned to use right at the beginning of the fight? Pathetic!”

"You…will not…get…away…with this!" the High Priest muttered shakily as he was rendered immobile by the pressure.

“I most definitely will, my good Sir. There's no one coming to save you, nor is there anyone around who can stop me. Like hell, there isn't even anyone around", the Leader scorned, cackling viciously.

“Now, tell me. Where did you hide the Yggdrasil Fruit Fragment?"

The High Priest gave no response, he just kept grunting and struggling to counter the crushing force of gravity.

“Silence, huh? Let's try that again. Graviole Dio”, the Leader dryly said, changing the gears of his spell and taking it one level higher.

“You…ar–are…not get–...getting…anything…from m–me, y–you m–mo–monster”, the High Priest maintained adamantly, still fighting the increased crushing force.

“Wow…you're quite resilient, High Priest. Since you've got quite the mouth on you, let's try this differently. Graviole Tría. Estía!" the Leader cast, turning up the notch another step higher and narrowing the surface area of impact to just a part of his body; his torso.

The High Priest violently coughed up a heavy amount of blood, as he felt his ribs slowly breaking.

Unable to speak, the Leader mistook his inability to speak for deliberate silence and turned the spell up even higher.

"Graviole Téssera!”

Almost as soon as the buffed spell effect hit, the High Priest tapped his hand frantically against the floor with all his might, signalling his surrender.

“Exalifo. Let's hear it, Priest. We don't have all day”, the Leader said in a lazy irritated tone, as he cancelled the spell.

"I–it is…it i–is…” the Priest muttered as he wheezed and gasped for breath, coughing up even more blood.

Just as the impatient Leader was about to re-cast the spell, he spotted a faint glow emerging from the stone tile beneath the Priest. He then noticed the moving lips of the High Priest, but couldn't make out what he was saying. But whatever it was would lead him to his goal.

The more he cast, the brighter the glow became. A slight tremor ran through the walls and floor, and the stone slab at the center of the room began to split into four unequal parts.

Right at the core of the stone slab, was an encasement of leather and gold.

“There it is!! That was not so difficult, was it, High Priest?" the Leader said as he snatched the casing from the disoriented High Priest.

Cackling viciously as he opened the encasement, he pulled out a deep jade-coloured piece of an orb. It was the Yggdrasil Fruit Fragment.

"Yesssssssssssssssssss!!! The Earth is about to witness a new wave of power!” the Leader said, letting out a diabolical laughter as he raised the fragment over his head. All his henchmen fell on their hands and knees, bowing to the fragment in reverence, chanting "All hail, Great Eris”.

***

A sharp sting coming from the cut above his left eyebrow made Orion wince in pain. The blood gushing from it blurred the vision of his eye below, and the splitting headache he felt robbed him of his sense of coordination.

He woke up in a pile of rubble somewhere at the edge of town, his body felt sore and hurt extremely all over and his right leg was broken in three places, making it entirely impossible to walk. He cursed his fate under his breath, subtly wishing he had died alongside his mother.

Turning his head around to ascertain his current location, he quickly caught a glimpse of a familiar sight. It was the World Tree, Yggdrasil, just a little less than thirty feet away from where he lay. And for some reason, that granted him a certain level of comfort.

Yggdrasil was a sacred tree, revered by all of Dumnonia, said to hold an infinite amount of magical energy with fruits that bloomed once in a century, powerful enough to resurrect the dead.

His eyes were dead set on getting to Yggdrasil. “Just a touch and a prayer”, he said to himself, dragging himself across the floor in a last-ditch effort to get to the Tree. He hadn't the slightest idea of what exactly he could receive from the Tree. Could be nothing. But he doggedly pulled either way, fighting to ignore the excruciating pain that plagued his entire body.

Finally, he arrived at the root of the Tree, heaving a deep sigh of relief as he rested his entire upper body on a huge part of the roots. One of the silver feather-like leaves of the Tree suddenly broke off and drifted downwards, which was unnatural because Yggdrasil was indestructible, unbreakable, and ever-flourishing. Its pointed needle-like stalk sailed straight down and lodged itself in Orion's chest.

Slowly, he felt consciousness fading again.